Hostage crisis: Patnaik urges Maoists to extend deadline
By IANSFriday, February 18, 2011
BHUBANESWAR - Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday appealed to the Maoists not to harm the Malkangiri district collector and an engineer they are holding captive and urged them to extend their deadline that lapses in the evening.
“We are in the process of trying to establish contact. My appeal to the concerned persons is the deadline of this evening be extended,” Patnaik told reporters.
He also appealed to the abductors that no harm should come to collector R. Vineel Krishna and junior engineer Pabitra Mohan Majhi, who were kidnapped Wednesday evening.
For the release of the hostages, the rebels, in a fresh wish list circulated through a section of the media, are demanding a halt to the anti-Maoist Operation Green Hunt, the release of all political prisoners, scrapping of pacts with MNCs and compensation for the families of Maoist sympathisers killed in police custody.
Their 48-hour deadline lapses Friday evening.
